It is a great pleasure to present this book, edited by a distinguished team at the Hong Kong Institute of Education and with excellent contributors from nine countries in the region and beyond. The book is a truly comparative work which significantly advances conceptual understanding. The comparisons undertaken are at many levels and with different units for analysis. One chapter undertakes comparison in two cities (Hong Kong and Guangzhou), three chapters make comparisons between two eountries (South Korea and Singapore; Solomon Islands and Vanuatu; South Korea and China); and five chapters undertake eomparisons across the whole region. Other on individual countries or, in one case, on a single schoo!. In addition, ehapters foeus several chapters examine the attitudes and roles played by individuals and groups within societies. The book is thus an admirable example of the vitality of the field of comparative education in selecting different units for analysis and in examination of issues from diverse angles. Within the book, moreover, readers will find a fascinating array of settings and environments. On the one hand, for example, is Japan with its relatively homogenous eulture, a population of 126 million, and a strong national identity based on language and history. On the other hand is Solomon Islands, which has a population of just 400,000 scattered over 1,000 islands, approximately 90 indigenous languages, and major social problems arising from culture cashes, econornic forces, political dyna­ mies and legacies of colonialism.

List of tables

List of abbreviations

Series editor's foreword

Introduction

p. 1

Searching for citizenship values in an uncertain global environment

p. 9

Emerging concepts of citizenship in the Asian context

p. 25

Muslim views of citizenship in Indonesia during democratisation

p. 37

Citizenship education in Hong Kong : development and challenges

p. 59

A solid foundation : citizenship education in Japan

p. 81

A society in transition : the paradigm shift of civic education in Taiwan

p. 97

New bearings for citizenship education in Singapore

p. 119

Perceptions of citizenship qualities among Asian educational leaders

p. 137

Patriotic education in a Chinese middle school

p. 157

Promoting social tolerance and cohesion in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu

p. 175

The making of a 'good citizen' in Malaysia : does history education play a role?

p. 195

Teachers' perceptions of future citizens in Hong Kong and Guangzhou

p. 215

Multidimensional citizenship, confucian humanism and the imagined community : South Korea and China

p. 239

Values education in the global information age in South Korea and Singapore